Communication during times of crisis

"War, Civil War and Crisis Communication" was the theme on the first session of the emerging theme Crisis Communication. The works of Azi Lev-on, Kari Andén-Papadopoulos, Evgeny Pahentsev and Stuart Allan were put forward for discussion. Aretha Asakitikpi and Aderogba Adeyemi, from the Covenant University of Nigeria, were not present at the session.

Azi Lev-on, from Israel, presented his work on "New-media uses in wartime: Internet-based collaborations during the Israel-Hezbollah war". He told that during the conflict the internet was very useful in fundraising for emergence situations and some websites"transformed themselves in order to help the population". Internet was also the main information channel. "Information always appeared on the web before it appeared on traditional media" explained Lev-on.

From Stockholm University, Kari Andén-Papadopoulos presented "Crisis Communication on Youtube", a study about the role of Youtube in keeping the memory of war. Besides creating an international solidarity community and alternative spaces for community grief, the memorial videos on Youtube are also "building an important record" of war. These videos, often made by american soldiers or their families, present a different view of war.

The issue of the raising of the citizen photojournalist and the problem of the amended photos during times of crisis were the subjects of the study "Witness of War: Photojournalism in Times of crisis", from Stuart Allan, Bournemouth University.

"Information warfare under the crisis conditions: The experience of Russia" was the work presented by Evgeny Nikolaevich Pahentsev, from the Communication Management Center, Russian Federation.

The aim of the emerging theme on Crisis Communication is to provide a forum at IAMCR conferences where communication scholars can debate the mediation of political and economic crisis, wars and disasters.

Helena Nunes and Mafalda Trindade